Name

Helmut Kohl was the name of a German Politician who served as Chancellor for Germany from 1982 to 1998. He is the one of the longest serving German Chancellors in history and presided both during the Cold War and the Reunification of Germany, Fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990. He is regarded as one of the main architects of German Reunification and contributed heavily to the creation of the European Union, of which helped pave the way for the European Alliance which took shape after the Third World War. He was succeeded in office by Gerhard Schröder in 1998.

History

With Hirogen attacks and raids becoming more and more common in the surrounding space around the Pinastri system. United Federation Starfleet Command decided that to face the Hirogen head on a new type of Starbase would have be built in a strategic location. The Hirogen had been a consistent aggressor since the USS Voyager first encountered them in 2374. With the fall of the Borg Collective in 2381, the Hirogen had begun to expand attacking UFS colonies and allied worlds in the name of "The Hunt".

By 2386 and countless engagements with the Hirogen, United Federation Starfleet decreed that if the ships were to proceed further into dangerous space, they would need a new outpost in which to render aid to many of these vessels. UFS Engineering set about trying to design a new type of station that would be heavily armed, more so then a traditional Ournal Class Starbase and able to provide both support and protection for vessels in need of repairs.

The result was the "Xerxes" Class Starbase, a unique design which combined elements from the Ournal Class Starbase with the lessons learned during the Dominion War with Deep Space Nine. Finally, in September of 2386, UFS finally sanctioned construction of the SS Helmut Kohl in the remote Barrett System. a location chosen because of the rich Class M environments of two of the five planets, plus the system was strategically important to open up UFS exploration into uncharted space.

A small Fleet of the Federation Support Ships and their escorts, including the USS Arcos left carrying the Station Crew and construction materials and the Station was completed almost a month later. Named, SS Helmut Kohl, it quickly established itself as the command centre for the entire Third Task Force and has been instrumental in helping to coordinate ships in the region ever since.

On Stardate 120225, the Fleet left the newly completed SS Helmut Kohl and returned to Pinastri for reassignment. The SS Helmut Kohl is currently awaiting assignment of a new Fleet in the region. The Station was finally finished and commissioned under former Starfleet Medical Officer Lieutenant Dinero Outlander who was promoted to Commander and had been instrumental in helping to establish the project in the first place.

The SS Helmut Kohl to this day, remains one of the fundamental outposts in charting a new frontier of space. Despite the distance, passengers and high ranking Starfleet officials regularly travel to this clandestine area of space and make SS Helmut Kohl one of the key installations within the entire of UFS and possibly the most important diplomatic and strategic outpost. This strategic importance is what makes SS Helmut Kohl practically the Deep Space Nine of United Federation Starfleet. As result the station is equipped with a high level of scientific and diplomatic facilities as well as impressive shield and weapons array capable of deterring most threats looking to acquire new pieces of hardware.

Crew Manifest

Construction and Initial Assignment

The Xerxes Class SS Helmut Kohl is designed to operate completely independently from other starbase support. Its internal structure is vastly different from the traditional Ournal Class Starbase used in the Alpha Quadrant. The Helmut Kohl is a unique design created by UFS Engineering with the sole purpose to be a Multi-Role Strategic Platform. The station is somewhat smaller then an Ournal but it is more heavily armed, it possess an internal docking bay which can allow ships to pass in and out of the station at will receiving repairs and upgrades.

Due to the constant threat of attack, the Helmut Kohl has been fitted with an impressive and deadly offensive array. The station possess 75 Type XII Phaser Arrays, 21 Type XII Phased Pulse Cannon Turrets and 25 Mark III Torpedo Launchers, giving the station almost total tactical superiority during combat operations. The station is also the only in UFS equipped with Photon, Quantum and Transphasic Torpedoes. Transphasic Torpedoes were recently acquired by the USS Aviator-A during one of her Quantum Slipstream journeys back to Earth for supplies. UFS Command has only authorised the Helmut Kohl to receive and use this weapons, albeit only in critical situations due to the nature of these advanced torpedoes.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the SS Helmut Kohl is the unique "Ablative Generator" system which was first used by the USS Voyager in 2377 when Admiral Janeway provided the technology from the future. This technology, compliments the already powerful Multiphasic Shield Grid but perhaps what is most impressive is, when activated, the armour covers the entire station, an area of almost 1.5 kilometers. This system has never been implemented on a starbase before and remains a testament to UFS ability to adapt and design talent.

The Initial Assignment of the SS Helmut Kohl was to facilitate operations for the ships of Task Force 3 which had been assigned to that area. However the SS Helmut Kohl has grown to facilitate a multitude of different functions. The station can act as diplomatic platform for first contact situations with passing aliens or treaty negotiations between UFS and other Delta Quadrant powers. However the station's true value is in its strategic position, many UFS personnel shuttle between Pinastri and Helmut Kohl for many different functions and conferences. The station is also located near Hirogen space, allowing Starfleet a first line of defence in case of an attack against Pinastri.

Strategically, the SS Helmut Kohl is invaluable both as a shipyard and repair facility and as a defensive measure in its own right. The Helmut Kohl is effectively alone in space, with only its Task Force able to protect it, despite it being heavily armed, it can still be exploited. The SS Helmut Kohl leads Fleet Operations of all the ships in the Sector and will regularly interact with the Commanding Officers of other UFS Chapters. The station is a constant source of excitement with different aliens passing through, bartering on the Promenade and repair operations to the many vessels hear in the Delta Quadrant. The station is independent, acknowledging the fact that if help comes, it may take 30 days to get here from Pinastri and by that point, it may be too late.